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The phonology of Sesotho and those of the other Sotho–Tswana languages are radically different from those of "older" or more "stereotypical" Bantu languages. Modern Sesotho in particular has very mixed origins (due to the influence of Difaqane refuges) inheriting many words and idioms from non-Sotho–Tswana languages. There are in total 39 consonantal phonemes〔Other authors may choose to include the labialized consonants as contrastive phonemes, potentially increasing the number by 26 to 75. Labialization does create minimal pairs, as is exemplified by the short passive suffix, but different authors seem to be divided on whether or not these should be counted as authentic phonemes (especially since Sotho–Tswana-type labialization caused by vowel "absorption" is a fairly strange and rare process). Besides the passives, there are still numerous minimal pairs differing only in the labialization of a single consonant (note that each of the following pairs has similar tonal patterns): : ''-rala'' ('design'), versus ''-rwala'' ('carry on the head') : ''-lala'' ('lie down' (fashioned or poetic )), versus ''-lwala'' ('be sick' (fashioned )) : ''mora'' ('son'), versus ''morwa'' ('a Khoisan person') : ''-hama'' ('milk an animal'), versus ''-hwama'' ('(fat ) congeal') : ''-tshasa'' ('smear'), versus ''-tshwasa'' ('capture prey') : ''mohla'' ('day'), versus ''mohlwa'' ('termite') Normal consonants and their labialised forms do not contrast before back vowels (that is, a labialized consonant will lose its labialization before a back vowel).〕 (plus 2 allophones) and 9 vowel phonemes (plus two close raised allophones). The consonants include a rich set of affricates and palatal and postalveolar consonants, as well as three click consonants. ==Historical sound changes== Probably the most radical sound innovation in the Sotho–Tswana languages is that the Proto-Bantu prenasalized consonants have become simple stops and affricates.〔The Sotho–Tswana ejective stops , , and come from the Proto-Bantu *mb, *nd, and *ŋg due to the radical effects of the nasalization process. The Proto-Bantu stops *p, *t, and *k have usually become , , and ( and in modern Sesotho) with *kû becoming , and the nasalized forms of these (Proto-Bantu *mp, *nt, and *ŋk) are the two aspirated stops and , and the aspirated velar affricate ( in most Sesotho speaking communities). Note that some Sotho–Tswana languages do have prenasalized consonants, or at least have less strict and varied nasalization rules, but this is almost certainly as a result of influence from neighbouring non-Sotho–Tswana languages.〕 Thus isiZulu words such as ''entabeni'' ('on the mountain'), ''impuphu'' ('flour'), ''ezinkulu'' ('the big ones'), ''ukulanda'' ('to fetch'), ''ukulamba'' ('to become hungry'), and ''ukuthenga'' ('to buy') are cognates to Sesotho ''thabeng'', ''phofo'', ''tse kgolo'', ''ho lata'', ''ho lapa'', and ''ho reka'', respectively (with the same meanings). This is further intensified by the law of nasalization and nasal homogeneity, making derived and imported words have syllabic nasals followed by homogeneous consonants, instead of prenasalized consonants. Another important sound change in Sesotho which distinguishes it from almost all other Sotho–Tswana languages and dialects is the chain shift from and to and (the shift of to is not yet complete). In certain respects, however, Sesotho is more conservative than other Sotho–Tswana languages. For example, the language still retains the difference in pronunciation between , , and .〔Strictly speaking, should be an allophone of found only when is nasalized. However, possibly due to the mixed origins of Sesotho, there are several instances of appearing without nasalization (as is the case in Setswana) or of failing to nasalize when the nasalizing consonant is not visible (such as when forming polysyllabic class 9 nouns). Thus one finds: : ''ho hlaha'' ('to emerge') > class 9 ''tlhaho'' ('nature') : ''ho hlompha'' ('to respect') > class 9 ''hlompho'' ('respect') where the nasalization is applied in the first noun but not the second. 〕 Many other Sotho–Tswana languages have lost the fricative , and some Northern Sotho languages, possibly influenced by Tshivenda, have also lost the lateral affricate and pronounce all three historical consonants as (they have also lost the distinction between and — thus, for example, speakers of the Northern Sotho language commonly called Setlokwa call their language "Setokwa").〔A further collapse occurred in Silozi — which has lost the generally unusual distinction between plain and aspirated consonants. Thus Sesotho , , , , and all map to the single Silozi phoneme .〕 The existence of (lightly) ejective consonants (all unvoiced unaspirated stops) is very strange for a Bantu language and is thought to be due to Khoisan influence. These consonants occur in the Sotho–Tswana and Nguni languages (being over four times more common in Southern Africa than anywhere else in the world), and the ejective quality is strongest in isiXhosa, which has been greatly influenced by Khoisan phonology. As with most other Bantu languages, almost all palatal and postalveolar consonants are due to some form of palatalization or other related phenomena which result from a (usually palatal) approximant or vowel being "absorbed" into another consonant (with a possible subsequent nasalization). The Southern Bantu languages have lost the Bantu distinction between long and short vowels. In Sesotho the long vowels have simply been shortened without any other effects on the syllables; while sequences of two dissimilar vowels have usually resulted in the first vowel being "absorbed" into the preceding consonant, and causing changes such as labialization and palatalization. As with most Southern African Bantu languages, the "composite" or "secondary" vowels *e and *o have become and , and and . These usually behave as two phonemes (conditioned by vowel harmony), although there are enough exceptions to justify the claim that they have become four separate phonemes in the Sotho–Tswana languages. Additionally, the first-degree (or "superclose", "heavy") and second-degree vowels have not merged as in many other Bantu languages, resulting in a total of 9 phonemic vowels. Almost uniquely among the Sotho–Tswana languages, Sesotho has adopted clicks.〔Urban varieties of Pedi are currently acquiring clicks as well.〕 There is one place of articulation, alveolar, and three manners and phonations: tenuis, aspirated, and nasalized. These most probably came with loanwords from the Khoisan and Nguni languages, though they also exist in various words which don't exist in these languages and in various ideophones. These clicks also appear in environments which are rare or non-existent in the Nguni and Khoisan languages, such as a syllabic nasal followed by a nasalized click ( written , as in ''nnqane'' 'that other side'), a syllabic nasal followed by a tenuis click (, also written , as in ''senqanqane'' 'frog'; this is not the same as the prenasalized radical click written in the Nguni languages), and a syllabic nasal followed by an aspirated click ( written , as in ''seqhenqha'' 'hunk'). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sotho phonology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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